BASEBALL

BASEBALL; Royals' First Victory Is Indians' First Defeat

Published: April 11, 1994

Dennis Martinez hit Greg Gagne with a bases-loaded pitch in the sixth inning, forcing in the go-ahead run as Kansas City beat Cleveland, 6-1, yesterday after having lost its first three games.

Chris Haney (1-0) allowed one run and three hits in six innings as Kansas City, playing at home, avoided becoming the last major league team to win a game for the third straight year. Vince Coleman had three hits for the Royals, including a leadoff triple in the first.

"It's always a relief to win a ball game," Kansas City Manager Hal McRae said. "When you drop the first three and people are starting to talk about it and starting to criticize you and second-guess you and doubt you, it's nice to win."

Cleveland (3-1) suffered its first defeat. Blue Jays 12, Mariners 6

Joe Carter, completing a big first week, hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs in the Skydome, leading Toronto to a rout of Randy Johnson and 0-5 Seattle.

Carter, the hero of last year's World Series, has 4 homers and 12 runs batted in. He homered yesterday in the first inning, then added a sacrifice fly in the second and an r.b.i. single in the third. He left in the sixth inning after bruising his left knee.

Johnson (0-1), who threw seven no-hit innings in Seattle's season opener before tiring, was tagged for a career high and club-record 11 runs in two and a third innings. Rangers 8, Orioles 7

Jose Canseco ended a 1-for-14 slump with three hits, including a homer, and Ivan Rodriguez homered and had three r.b.i. as visiting Texas beat Baltimore.

Canseco had a perfect day at the plate, reaching base five times and scoring three runs. Texas first baseman Will Clark sprained his right ankle in the first inning and left the game in the second. Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro had a homer and three r.b.i. against his former teammates. White Sox 8, Red Sox 0

Alex Fernandez pitched a six-hitter -- all singles -- in Chicago as the White Sox beat the Red Sox. Fernandez (1-1) struck out six, walked one and was backed by three-run innings in both the third and fifth. It was his first shutout since last April 13 against Minnesota and the fourth of his career. Athletics 15, Twins 5

Geronimo Berroa, a non-roster player who made the team in spring training, drove in five runs with a homer, a double and three singles as Oakland completed a three-game, run-filled sweep against Minnesota.

Terry Steinbach drove in four runs with a double and single for Oakland, which outscored the Twins by 39-14. Angels 4, Brewers 1

Brian Anderson, a rookie, won his first major-league decision, and Dwight Smith and Chad Curtis drove in two runs each as visiting California defeated Milwaukee. Anderson, 21, taken in the first round of the June 1993 draft, was called up from Triple-A Vancouver on Saturday when Mark Langston went on the disabled list. He worked eight and a third innings, allowing a run on five hits, struck out three and walked two before Joe Grahe came on for his third save.